Ulster County, N.Y., received a grant of $481,012 in 2009 to install automatic vehicle locators (AVLs) in County vehicles and in other municipalities’ fleet vehicles in the region. The County received Local Government Efficiency grant funds for this project from the New York Department of State (NY DOS).

So far, Ulster County has installed 141 AVLs in its own vehicles, 38 AVLs in the Town of Wawarsing’s fleet vehicles, and 11 AVLs in the Village of Ellenville’s vehicles.

“The partnership with Ulster County in a grant to cover the costs of our AVL system is a model for shared services,” said Wawarsing Town Supervisor Scott Carlsen. “This will provide safety to our highway department employees, and a savings to our taxpayers. I sincerely appreciate that County Executive Hein would take the time to come and meet with my staff, and to have given consideration to the Town of Wawarsing as a partner in the grant. The utilization of this technology offers both immediate benefit as well as long term value to taxpayers and municipalities.”